CALMAC bosses have said it is "impossible to say" when a key ferry for Arran will be fixed, as the company announced yet another delay to its return.
The MV Caledonian Isles, which was due to return to service on the Ardrossan to Brodick route last week, has been out of action since January last year.
Despite arriving back in Ardrossan last week, CalMac bosses have now said it will return to drydock in the next stage of efforts to resolve "a pressure issue with the vessel’s propulsion system".
There have been several return dates proposed by CalMac in the last week, but none of these have been met.
The company is unable to confirm a provisional return to service date now until the inspection takes place, bosses say.
Duncan Mackison, CalMac’s CEO, said it is "impossible to say" when the ferry will be ready to carry passengers again.
He said: “Everyone at CalMac is disappointed that MV Caledonian Isles isn’t ready to carry passengers yet, and I know that disappointment will be shared by communities across our network and by those who travel to and from Arran regularly.
“Once the vessel is in drydock, the inspection will take a few days.
"Until then, it is impossible to say how long any repair might take. But there is a range of possible scenarios going from the issue being resolved in a few days to it taking significantly longer.
"To give communities and customers certainty, we’re removing MV Caledonian Isles from deployment plans for now and will provide a detailed update on any service impact early next week.”
Earlier this week, CalMac confirmed a specialist had to be brought in from Norway to assist with the investigation into a gearbox fault.
The latest delay means the people of Ardrossan could be waiting weeks or months more to get their ferry to Arran back.
Due to the extensive repairs being carried out on the Caley Isles, there have been no ferries running from Ardrossan since January because the new MV Glen Sannox is too big to berth there. The same will be true for its sister ship the MV Glen Rosa, due to come on stream next year.
As a result, Arran residents have been struggling to reach medical appointments on the mainland while Ardrossan locals are growing increasingly concerned for the local economy, which relies on footfall from the ferry service.
While the MV Glen Sannox has been running from Troon, this route takes longer and is widely seen as much less convenient for onward travel.
Protesters gathered outside Holyrood on Thursday to demonstrate their anger over a lack of progress in negotiations to nationalise Ardrossan Harbour.
Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop announced back in February that money had been set aside to take Ardrossan Harbour into public ownership, but campaigners have become frustrated with a lack of movement since then.
This has only been compounded by the fact the Scottish Government pledged back in 2018 to ensure Ardrossan remained the gateway to Arran.
The project to upgrade the harbour was then paused in 2023 amid concern over rising costs and disagreements over how the bill should be split between the three partners: harbour owners Peel Ports, North Ayrshire Council and the Scottish Government.
Campaigners from both sides of the Firth of Clyde – who were supported by cross-party politicians - turned up in their dozens to Holyrood to say “enough is enough”, as they called for Hyslop and the Scottish Government to get directly involved in securing a deal.
